SFO ‘evacuation’ – Thousands of San Francisco International Airport passengers stranded outside during ‘police activity’
SAN Francisco International Airport has been evacuated, leaving thousands of passengers stranded outside of the terminal during reported police activity.
The San Francisco Police Department confirmed to The Sun that they have been investigating reports of a bomb threat.
Police received a call at about 8.15pm local time of a reported bomb threat.
Officials arrived on the scene to find a suspicious package and evacuated the international terminal “out of an abundance of caution,” SFPD spokesman Officer Robert Rueca said.
One male has been detained in the incident, SFPD confirmed.
Passengers should expect ongoing delays as the investigation continues.
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It is unclear how many departing flights may be impacted by the evacuation.
The airport put out a statement via Twitter at 9.30pm local time saying to avoid the international terminal “until further notice.”
“Due to ongoing police activity the Int’l Terminal is being evacuated. Please avoid the International Terminal until further notice. AirTrain and BART service are suspended. Passenger drop-off and pick-up only at the Domestic Terminals. More updates to be come.”
The city’s Bay Area Rapid Transit put out an alert about a station closure due to police activity.
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SFBARTAlert initially tweeted about disruptions to service due to the incident at 8.42pm local time.
An update tweet released a short time later states: “There is a station closure at San Francisco Int’l Airport due to police activity. Samtrans bus service is available between Millbrae and SFO in both directions. Samtrans will accept BART tickets as fare.”
Traffic is reportedly backed up in and around the airport as a result of the ongoing incident.
THOUSANDS STRANDED AS POLICE INVESTIGATE
Stranded passengers have taken to social media to share their experiences, with some estimating that thousands of people are outside of the terminal.
Video footage shows dozens of cop cars outside of the terminal.
In some videos shared on social media, an announcement can be heard through the airport’s PA system giving travelers instructions to evacuate.
Some have said their planes are being held on the runway due to the evacuation.
Other passengers have said that upon landing at the airport, they received an alert on their phones to avoid the terminal.
One passenger shared the alert to Twitter, which reads: “Emergency Alert: Due to ongoing police activity the Int’l Terminal is being evacuated. Please avoid.”
Passengers arriving into other terminals are having a very different travel experience.
“Surreal waiting for luggage at SFO knowing that SFPD located a suspicious package and shut down International Terminal,” one traveler wrote on Twitter.
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“We’re so used to gun safety drills and bomb threats that the response is a collective calm. Better safe than sorry.”
Terminals 1, 2, and 3 are domestic at SFO.